Applications and business drivers

Applications and business drivers

Find out more about why and how your organisation could exploit WAAM's benefits

APPLICATIONS

Aerospace

Oil and Gas

Defence

Architecture

Product design

Automotive

Renewable energy

Nuclear energy

General engineering

BUSINESS DRIVERS and BENEFITS

Reduction in lead time

WAAM can enable reduction in lead times from years to weeks or even days.

Low capital cost

A six-axis robot (£50k), a power source and torch (£30k) and the clamping tooling (£10k) constitute the basic WAAM hardware, for a total of £90k. This system is suitable for deposition of steel and aluminium. In case of titanium, given the additional requirement for an inert atmosphere, an enclosure might be necessary (an extra £20k).

Open architecture

The end user can potentially combine any brand of power source and manipulator retaining total control over the hardware. This is managed by software, WAAMsoft, which controls the process and can be adapted to the specific equipment available in the manufacturing cell. Furthermore, the user retains the freedom to change any deposition parameter; the software suggests the deposition parameters on a feature basis, but the user can customise them if required.

Part size

Materials such as aluminium or steel do not have a stringent requirement for gas shielding; consequently, the maximum part size is determined uniquely by the reach capability of the manipulator. For materials that require shielding such as titanium, the size is limited by the inner envelope of the chamber or tent used to create the inert atmosphere.

High deposition rates

Deposition rates are sufficiently high to make the deposition of large scale parts achievable in reasonable times. With rates ranging from 1 kg/h to 4 kg/h for aluminium and steel respectively, most parts can be manufactured within one working day. Higher deposition rates can be achieved (e.g. 10 kg/h), but this then compromises the fidelity of the part. For instance, at 10 kg/h, the BTF ratio can be as high as 10 for the final deposited part, which is effectively a preform, thus requiring significant machining as well as the deposition of much more material, making the process less attractive from an economic point of view. Keeping the deposition rate at medium levels (e.g. 1 kg/h for titanium and aluminium, and 3 kg/h for steel) ensures that a BTF ratio of <1.5 is always achieved, maximising the cost saving.

Material cost and utilisation

Welding wire is a cheap form of feedstock. Steel is priced between £2 /kg and £15 /kg (depending upon wire diameter and alloy composition), aluminium between £6 /kg and £100 /kg (depending upon wire diameter and alloy composition) and Ti–6Al–4V between £100 /kg and £250 /kg (depending upon wire diameter and alloy composition). Furthermore, wire avoids many of the challenges associated with powders such as control of particle size or distribution, which affect process performance. Finally, at the point of deposition, the wire is entirely molten and becomes part of the final structure, and the likelihood of contamination is low compared with powder.

Cost savings

WAAM can enable cost savings up to 70% when compared to machining from solid billet, or open-die forging.

Please note all costs for WAAM parts do include finish machining, even if the pictures show parts in the as-deposited conditions.

BAE Systems spar

Design option

Mass(kg)

BTF

Cost (£k)

Cost red.

Original, machined

17

6.5

7.2

-

Original, WAAM

17

2.2

5.1

29%

Bombardier outboard landing gear rib (titanium)

Design option

Mass(kg)

BTF

Cost (£k)

Cost red.

Original, machined

20

12

16.2

-

Original, WAAM

20

2.3

5

69%

Bombardier outboard landing gear rib (steel)

Design option

Mass(kg)

BTF

Cost (£k)

Cost red.

Original, machined

36

12

1.6

-

Original, WAAM

36

2.3

0.7

55%

An engine pylon mount

Design option

Mass(kg)

BTF

Cost (£k)

Cost red.

Original, machined

7.6

5.1

2.5

-

Original, WAAM

7.6

1.5

2.4

4%

Topologically optimised, machined

3.9

6

1.5

39%

Topologically optimised, WAAM

3.9

1.5

1.1

55%

An aluminium wing rib

Design option

BTF

Cost (£k)

Cost red.

Machined from solid

45

4.9

-

WAAM option 1

2.9

1.7

65%

WAAM option 2

12.3

2

58%

Titanium wing frame

Design option

BTF

Cost (£k)

Cost red.

Machined from solid

69

4.9

-

WAAM option 1 (thin substrate)

7

2.6

67%

WAAM option 2 (thick substrate)

8

2.4

69%

Example 1 of a titanium structural part (including comparison with another high deposition rates process)

WAAM

HiDR process

Saving by using WAAM

Deposition BTF

3

10

-

Substrate BTF

12

12

-

Overall BTF ratio

8

11

-

Cost of part machined from solid

£ 12155 (BTF = 60)

-

Cost of AM part

£ 3189

£ 4389

27%

Finished product mass

3 kg

3 kg

-

Deposited mass

4 kg

13 kg

69%

Cost reduction

74%

64%

-

Example 2 of a titanium structural part (including comparison with another high deposition rates process)